Signing It Away
by Lilly Winters
Summary: What if Light had not died at the end? Instead, he would be left to spend the remaining days of his life in prison. And perhaps, one of his victims would have come back to share one final conversation...L and Light friendship/enemy/? fiction.


**A/N**

**This is my first Death Note story, so let me know what you think. This is based on the idea that Light had not died at the end, but was saved and put into jail. I suck at descriptions Xl . Enjoy and Review!**

**I do NOT own Death Note, etc. This is a purely fan-made story for my readers.**

_Tick…_

_ Tock…_

_ Tick…_

_ Tock…_

_ "Here, Yagami, someone got you a present for the holidays," the guard had snarled, placing a clock within the bitter cell. "I guess they wanted to help you count out the days left until you're free of prison."_

_ He sneered._

_ "Oh, that's right…You're not getting out. You were left here to rot."_

_ He'd spat at the young man huddled in the corner. "I guess The Great Kira ain't so great anymore."_

The memory faded.

Light Yagami chuckled, shaking his head.

"So they wish to mock me, do they?"

A winter wind floated past the slender, barred window and whipped across his body. Light shivered, bringing his legs up to his chest and dragging his raggedy sneakers across the jagged cement floor. The small rocks crackled and snapped beneath the impact. His back throbbed from sitting in the same position for endless hours.

"I brought justice to this world. Whether they would admit it or not, they would have done it too."

The scrap of material provided as a blanket did nothing to guard his body against the snowstorm raging just outside the prison wall. He stood and stepped onto the wooden palate he called a bed, peeking out into the curtain of snow. Flakes littered his face as he pulled away, sputtering and frowning. He lost his footing and fell backwards onto the icy floor. He gasped when his shirt rose ever slightly and made contact with the cement.

He growled and repositioned himself against the wall where the dull ache within his spine returned. Panting from the fall, he squeezed his eyes shut and fell into a trance as he listened to his heartbeat mingle with the clock.

_Tick…Boom…Boom_

_ Tock…Boom…Boom_

_ Tick…Boom…_

_ Tock…Boom…_

_ Tick…_

_ Tock…Boom…_

_ Tick…_

"I brought justice…to this world," he heard his nearly unfamiliar voice hiss.

"I see you still believe that lie."

_Tick….Tock…._

The absence of his heartbeat stood out tremendously. He blinked his eyes, anxiously waiting for them to adjust to the dim lighting. When they did, they provided no evidence of the presence of anyone in the room with him.

"W…Who said that?" he moaned.

"Light Yagami. Look at you."

He jumped back against the wall, breathless yet wheezing. He could not believe his eyes.

"L?" he breathed.

The young detective tipped his head to the side.

"Why are you so surprised?"

"Y-You're dead! Aren't you? No…No. There must be a logical explanation for this."

"There is a logical explanation, Light," L nodded. "I am dead. That is how I am here. There is your logic."

Light relaxed and sighed. His face turned away from the man before him.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to check on you."

"Hmph, check on me? Why would you do that?"

L paced thoughtfully.

"I have checked on you every day since my death. I was there when you were dying on the staircase. I was there when they found you and rushed you to the hospital, evidentially saving your life. I was there in the courtroom when you heard your sentence. And I was there when you first stepped into this cell."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"What reasons do you have not too?"

He folded his arms.

"Obviously you don't know how you really died; who killed you."

"Oh, I know who killed me. It was you."

Blunt, forward, direct; perhaps it was L after all. But he still could not wrap his mind around one concept: why had L decided to reveal himself to Light that night? Why did he decide to at all? And if what he had said about following him around since the beginning of his demise, why would he chose to do something like that so willingly? It appeared that he knew Light was the one who murdered him. Did he simply not care?

As if reading his mind, L stepped into his thoughts.

"I must say, Light, I am rather disappointed."

"About what? Your justice prevailed in the end."

"But our friendship did not."

Light chuckled lowly before breaking into fits of laughter. L merely blinked and ignored the mad chortling.

"You really thought we were friends? How could Kira be friends with the person trying to kill him?"

"I did not wish to kill you, Light. I simply wished to see to it that justice was found."

"But you wanted justice so much, that you would be willing to execute me as long as the murders stopped," Light accused.

L sighed and gazed out through the barred entrance of the cell.

"Do you ever get lonely?"

Light stumbled, his words fleeing his mind. All at once, the distant look in his eyes vanished; the insane aura escaped.

"…What?"

"Christmas is quickly nearing. Do you miss your family? Your friends?"

He looked away resentfully.

"I need no one. I changed this world. I—"

"Brought about a new kind of justice, correct?" L interrupted.

Light frowned and lured his eyes closed. Still, L remained and continued.

"Did you really think you could change this world? Did you believe it was possible to rid this planet of all evil?"

Light faced him cynically, yet was surprised to see the dismal fog lurking within L's eyes. The question was not born of ridicule and mockery. He simply wished to know whether or not that was the way Light had really thought.

"I had hoped too," his weak voice groaned. Never before had he felt so powerless. But beneath the steady gaze, he seemed more like a defenseless child who was persevering through a firm scolding for his actions.

Was there a punishment great enough, though, for Kira, the serial killer?

_Serial Killer…_

It rang in his head. He had stolen the lives of countless people; innocent or not it was still murder. No. He had wanted that from the beginning. To change the world, to wash away the sinners of—a mist of tears crossed his eyes as the familiar beliefs scampered through his mind. He was so sick of it.

No regret, no repentance, just plain boredom at the same, reoccurring thoughts. Yet there was no way change could sneak into his life now. The claws of justice, the monster of his mind, would certainly detect the unfamiliar values and beliefs entering in and out of the cell and into his dream-filled head. Without a second thought, it would snatch those ideas up by the tail and casually watch as it shook limply in the air. Sinking its fangs into the delicate flesh, the shell that held together his credence, was all it would take to snatch it all away.

L took note of the silence, bending over to grasp the clock that had been left to hide in the shadows. His finger slowly slid the hands until it read midnight and out of the small door a delicate cuckoo bird, bound to a mechanical rod, chanted the soothing melody. Light's gaze had long returned to the far away stare. With his back turned, L let his hands relax into his pockets.

"The typical cuckoo clock. How strange…"

Light remained unmoving so he continued.

"Singing the usual joyful song at each hour, yet he does not realize that he is stuck in the same position for the rest of eternity."

He could feel Light's eyes flicker up and knew he had stolen his attention. It was not given, but stolen. Giving someone something is handing it over willingly; stealing was having that something removed from you without any justice. But L wanted justice in every situation. He craved justice. So even in a meaningless situation such as stealing his attention, he refused to become a thief. He wanted his attention to be handed over willingly.

"The bird never realized what it could have had, the life it had planned for him. He had many values in favor of presenting a life more enriching than anyone could have imagined. But his beautiful voice was not enough. He signed it over. All of it. And now, he is to remain on that single hand, coming in and out whenever he is called too."

Light shook his head, though his eyes had long returned to the floor.

"…What are you getting at, Ryuzaki…?"

"You are the bird, Light Yagami."

The confusion in his eyes proved to L that he was unsure of what he was saying. L stepped before him, doubled over, and peered into Light's eyes.

"You had so much going for you. You were a brilliant, young student, yet you threw it all away for a notebook."

Light gritted his teeth.

"I don't need to hear this."

He rose to move away, but L positioned his hands firmly on his shoulders and placed him where had been.

"You are the bird. You had a beautiful voice, yet you signed it away, all of it. Now you remain in this cell, the single hand from the clock. You come and go whenever you are told just like the bird. When each hour comes, he must labor his voice until everyone is pleased and they dismiss him without another word. You, too, will be called out of this prison, but only to hear the testimonies and sentences. When they are finished with you, you will be brought back here to squander your remaining days of life." He lowered his faced to Light's and whispered, "_You are the bird, Light_."

Light's cheeks grew wet as the tears ran down. He shoved Ryuzaki away and flung the blanket into the air. He kicked his bed, he punched the walls, he cried. _He cried…_

"Just get away from me, you idiot! I don't need to hear this! I don't need to! Just stay away from me!"

L, still crouching, nodded his head solemnly. _I suppose I am a thief, for I stole your attention. It was not given to me freely. I, too am a criminal_, L thought to himself. Ignoring the countless murders the young man before him was charged with, including his own, he wished over and over he could take away the frantic cries and pleas radiating from Light.

"Just stay away!"

"Goodbye, my friend..." The wind whispered.

Outside the cell, the two guards standing watch over Light casted bitter glares into the troubled cell. One of them slammed his fist against the bars in an attempt to silence the hollers echoing from within.

"Ah, let him go," the other guard suggested.

"Who is he even talking too? He is the only one in there."

"He has lost his mind. What else can you expect from someone like him?"

And so, the only one to hear his screams was the single bird inside the clock which remained positioned, ready to carry out his labor of singing; the endless sentence and punishment for signing his life over.

_Tick…_

_ Tock…_

_ Tick…_

_ Tock…_

Had it been a dream? Had he been there?

_Tick…_

_ Tock…_

_ Tick…_

_ Tock…_

Or was his mind giving him another illusion to grasp onto?

_Tick…_

_ Tock…_

_ Tick…_

_ Tock…_

L…

**A/N**

**Wow. This was probably my deepest story yet. I know it may have been confusing with all of the comparisons and whatnot, but hopefully you got it. L really had been there, but he only appeared to Light. The guards standing outside of Light's prison cell could not see him. All they saw was Light talking to what appeared to be the emptiness of his cell. **


End file.
